Shared Journeys

Shared Journeys
Makes Learning English
A Unique Experience

Shared Journeys is a series of six educational workshops for Adult ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes. Each workshop includes a tour of a restored apartment in the tenement at 97 Orchard Street and a discussion about the connections between immigrant experiences past and present. The program provides a unique context for English language learning, helps students place their own immigration experience within a broader historical and political framework, and promotes critical engagement with civic issues.

YOU MAY CHOOSE TO PARTICIPATE IN ONE, SEVERAL OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING WORKSHOPS, IN ANY ORDER. THE PROGRAM IS APPROPRIATE FOR INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED ESOL STUDENTS.
SHARED JOURNEYS IS A FREE PROGRAM.

Adult ESL Shared Journeys Workshops

Coming to the United States

Visit the 1935 apartment of Rosaria and Adolpho Baldizzi, who came to the United States during the height of the first immigration restrictions. Participants compare their own immigration experience with that of the Baldizzis, and discuss what it means to be “American.” Can be adapted for Beginner Level ESL students

Visit the 1897 home of the Levine family, who ran a small garment factory in their home. Conditions in factories such as this sparked a national debate about what constitutes acceptable working conditions. Participants will discuss and learn about how immi­grants organized for better working conditions in the past, the challenges of making a living, and working conditions today. Can be adapted for Beginner Level ESL students.

In this workshop, participants meet a costumed interpreter playing 14-year-old Victoria Confino, who lived in the tenement in 1916. Victoria tells participants about her culture, and discusses with them the challenges of being an immigrant in 1916. After meeting Victoria, participants work in small groups to discuss their own immigration experiences.

In this workshop, participants discuss the question: What are acceptable housing conditions? They learn how immigrants helped shape ideas about housing standards between 1863 and 1935 and the steps they can take to improve housing conditions today. Participants take on the role of housing inspectors in the early 1900s and, using the 1901 Tenement House Act, “inspect” the tenement building at 97 Orchard Street. They are then given information about current housing laws and consider whether their own homes meet today’s standards of acceptable housing.

Immigrants and Social Welfare

Visit the apartment of Nathalie Gumpertz, who raised her three daughters on her own after her husband mysteriously disappeared in 1874. Participants use this story to discuss the challenges of making a living and raising a family in the United States today.

Visit the 1869 apartment of the Moore family, whose youngest child died of marasmus, known today as malnutrition. Participants use the Moore story to discuss issues related to immigrant health and the barriers immigrants may face when trying to access health care.

Visit the re-created saloon of John and Caroline Schneider. Set in the year 1871, the students will get to learn how this family operates a lager beer saloon that also served as a restaurant for the community of Kleindeutschland. This German community on the Lower East Side tried to achieve the American Dream while blending their old customs and traditions with the new American ways.

Visit our newest addition to the Museum, our interactive table we call “Potion”. In this workshop the students can explore on their own the stories of different immigrant entrepreneurs that tried to achieve their American Dream in the basement of 97 Orchard Street. They get to learn about the Lustgardens, who ran a Kosher butcher shop in the 1890s. Another story is of Max Marcus, who runs a general merchandise store in the 1930s. They also hear the story of the Meda family who ran an underwear store in the 1970s. They will also get to learn about contempo­rary immigrant entrepreneurs who currently do business on the Lowe East Side. This is recommended for advanced level students.

High School ELL Shared Journeys Workshops

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is pleased to present High School Shared Journeys, a workshop series specially designed for transitional bilingual education, dual language, and ELL classes. In each of the workshops, students tour the museum’s historic tenement building, learn new English vocabulary words, and participate in discussion activities about how their own immigrant experiences compare to those of immigrants past.

Available programs:

Meet Victoria:

One of the museum’s living history programs. Students meet an actress playing the role of Victoria Confino, a 14 year-old Sephardic Jewish immigrant in 1916.

Visit the apartment of the Moore family, an Irish Catholic family who lived at 97 Orchard Street in 1869. Students will explore constructions and representations of immigrants in mass media. High school students only.

Middle School ELL Shared Journeys Groups

English Language Learners in 6th-8th Grade have the opportunity to explore the recreated apartments of immigrant families while strengthening their conversation and listening skills. In our recreated apartments, students learn about past immigrant families decisions, struggles, and sacrifices, and compare to their own experiences. Each workshop also includes a classroom component, where intermediate-level students interview each other to reflect on their own experiences of cultural adaptation, and beginner-level students boost their home and family vocabulary through descriptions of the apartments in 97 Orchard Street.

Available with three separate programs:

Hard Times:

Features the apartments of Natalie Gumpertz, a German single mother of four from the 1870s, and the Baldizzis, an Italian family living during the Great Depression.

Family Literacy Shared Journeys Workshops

Preserving Traditions

Families learning English together can visit the home of the Rogarshevsky family, set in the year 1915. This workshop gets the adults and children thinking of the decisions families make when preserving customs or traditions. The families will use this apartment and our interactive classrooms for a series of visits; by breaking up into a series of visits we can accommodate large families. They will alternate between the re-created spaces and hands-on activities like baking together in our other, modern building. Can be adapted for Adult classes.

note: If your class is late, your workshop may be shortened or cancelled.

Reservations

Phone: 646-518-3064
Fax: 212-388-0297

Reservations are required for all groups and must be made at least 4 weeks
in advance. To make a reservation, please call, or send an e-mail to
groups@tenement.org. The available slots fill up quickly, so please call
as far in advance as possible and have alternate dates available.

Group Size

There is no minimum group size. The maximum group size is 15 people.
If your class is larger than 15 people, you will need to book two simultaneous workshops.

Please let us know of any special needs your group has. The Museum
offers assistive listening devices and large print materials. 97 Orchard
Street is not wheelchair accessible, but programs are available in our
accessible Visitors Center at 103 Orchard Street. Please inquire.

Fees

The Tenement Museum offers Shared Journeys workshops to ESOL classes free
of charge. Space is limited, so please call today to book your free workshops! For more information call 646-518-3064

Shared Journeys is made possible through generous support from the National Park Service, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

CITIZENSHIP NOW!

A group of new citizens were naturalized in a ceremony at the Tenement Museum on September 20, 2011

The Tenement Museum is proud to support immigrants on their path to citizenship. The Museum is a participating venue for Citizenship Now!, a City University of New York program providing free, high quality, and confidential immigration law services for individuals and families. Citizenship Now! offers weekly one-on-one consultation sessions by appointment with attorneys and paralegals for immigrants in the process of becoming citizens. Services are available in Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese.

More information about the program is available online here. To make an appointment, contact Senior Education Associate Pedro Garcia at pgarcia@tenement.org or 646-518-3014.

PARTICIPANTS AND INSTRUCTORS HAVE SAID

"I have many things in common [with the family on the tour] because I am an immigrant like they were. I come from a country expecting a better life, also, like them.""I am an immigrant like Victoria [Confino]. I have hope to make my life in USA better and happy.""I live in a small apartment too. I do not work now. I have dreams.""We need to work hard and be thankful for a good life today. Maybe everything comes after suffering. After suffering comes happiness." "The workshop helps me learn a lot about immigrants. It is very useful. Also, it helped me improving my English listening skills."